''Jazz Party'' is a 1959 album by

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

and His Orchestra which contains a "formidable gallery of jazz stars" guesting, including

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

and

Jimmy Rushing James Andrew Rushing (August 26, 1901 – June 8, 1972) was an American singer and pianist from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., best known as the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948. Rushing was known as " Mr. Five by ...

(formerly the vocalist for

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

). It featured also a 9-strong percussion section on two tracks. The recording was first digitally remixed by Larry Keyes and remastered by Vlado Meller in 1987 and released on CD in the "CBS Jazz Masterpieces" series. A new remastering by

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chr ...

in the early 2000s was first issued by

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL or MoFi) is a record label that specialized in the production of audiophile issues. The company produces reissued vinyl LP records, compact discs, and Super Audio CDs and other formats. History Recording engine ...

Critical reception

Described as "an example of the ever-surprising repertoire...characteristic of late Ellington",Crouch, Stanley. (January 12, 2005)
The late show
Slate. Accessed September 8, 2007. ''Jazz Party'' has been praised particularly for its unique percussion pieces.Dance, Stanley. (November 1998)
Duke Ellington: Jazz Party
Jazz Times. Accessed September 8, 2007. ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'' reviewer

Gary Giddins Gary Giddins (born 1948) is an American jazz critic and author. He wrote for ''The Village Voice'' from 1973; his "Weather Bird" column ended in 2003. In 1986, Gary Giddins and John Lewis created the American Jazz Orchestra which presented conc ...

stated that the percussion song "Malletoba Spank" "will rattle in your brain until you die".Giddins, Gary. (1999
The long-playing duke
Village Voice. Accessed September 8, 2007. The multi-part "Toot Suite" has been described as intriguing, though underrated, featuring strong statements from Ellington regulars and guests.

's guest solo on "U.M.M.G." attracts much attention as well, and has been labeled both "enterprising" and "inspired".

Track listing

''"Satin Doll" and "Fillie Trillie" are included on the Columbia reissues, not on the original LP, nor on the Mobile Fidelity CD release.''

Personnel

Performance

* Cat Anderson –

Trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

* Shorty Baker – Trumpet * Ray Nance – Trumpet *

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American Swing music, swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948� ...

– Trumpet *Andres Ford – Trumpet *

Quentin Jackson Quentin "Butter" JacksonFe ...

–

Trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

* Britt Woodman – Trombone *John Sanders –

Valve trombone The valve trombone is a brass instrument in the trombone family that has a set of valves to vary the pitch instead of (or in addition to) a slide. Although it has been built in sizes from alto to contrabass, it is the tenor valve trombone pitched ...

* Jimmy Hamilton –

Clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

Johnny Hodges Johnny Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophone, alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on sop ...

–

Alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

* Russell Procope – Clarinet, alto saxophone * Paul Gonsalves – Tenor saxophone *

Harry Carney Harry Howell Carney (April 1, 1910 – October 8, 1974) was a jazz saxophonist and clarinettist who spent over four decades as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He played a variety of instruments, but primarily used the baritone saxophon ...

–

Baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

–

Piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

* Jimmy Woode –

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Sam Woodyard –

Drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

;Guests *

– Trumpet on "U.M.M.G." and "Hello Little Girl" * Jimmy Jones – Piano on "Hello Little Girl" *

–

Vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

on "Hello Little Girl" *Percussion section on "Malletoba Spank" and "Tymperturbably Blue" ** Elden C. Bailey –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

**Harry Breuer – Percussion **George Gaber – Percussion **Morris Goldenberg – Percussion ** Chauncey Morehouse – Percussion **Walter Rosenberg – Percussion ** Bobby Rosengarden – Percussion **Milton Schlesinger – Percussion **Brad Spinney – Percussion

Production

* Irving Townsend – producer,

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

*Larry Keyes – digital remix (1987) * Vlado Meller - remastering (1987) *

- remastering (early 2000s) *Amy Herot – production coordination

References

{{Authority control Duke Ellington albums 1959 albums Albums produced by Irving Townsend Columbia Records albums Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio